Eating Away
by efficacious humorosity
Summary: A teenage girl comes to the hospital with extreme pain and thirst. But that's just the beginning. Can House discover the cause of her illness before she dies?
1. Prologue

**A/N: This is my first fic ever! I don't own House. If I did… ahhhh, the possibilities…**

A brown haired girl entered her school cafeteria for morning assembly. She took a seat next to a brown haired boy. "Hey, Kyle," she said. "What's up, Lizzy?" the boy replied. "I'm okay. Except yesterday afternoon I got a paper cut," she joked. He laughed. They talked for a few minutes, when a strange look came upon her face. "What's wrong?" he asked. "My ankle. It's hurts like hell," she said. Her face contorted in pain. "Are you okay? Should I get someone?" he asked, concerned. She grabbed her ankle and began yelling in pain. "Call 911!" she yelled. A teacher rushed over to them.

"What's going on?" she asked. "We were just talking and then her ankle started hurting really badly," Kyle said. Lizzy was now writhing on the ground in pain, still clutching her ankle. The teacher bent over her. "What's wrong, Lizzy?" she asked. "My freaking ankle! Call 911!" she yelled. The teacher yelled over her shoulder, "Someone call 911!" Lizzy's vision was fading; the black had crept in from the edges and almost completely covered her eyes now. "Get help, Kyle…" she muttered. Then she blacked out.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Sorry that last chapter was short, but it should be considered a prologue. House is Fox's, not mine.**

Greg House entered the hospital feeling more pissed off than usual because… well, because he was House. He saw four teenagers lounging around in the waiting room and sighed heavily. He spotted Cameron and limped over to her. "Cameron. Why are there four highly hormonal teenagers in the waiting room?" he asked. She handed him a file in response. "They're the visitors for your new patient," she said. He looked at the file. "Pain in the ankle. Obviously an injury," he said. "There's no injury. Chase and I already did x-rays and the works. Only a small paper cut she apparently got yesterday and that doesn't appear to be infected," Cameron said. "I'm feeling generous today. I'll go talk to the patient," he said. He limped off in the direction of the room.

He entered the room to find the fourteen year old girl lying the bed watching a rerun of Friends. "Aren't you a little young for Friends?" he asked. She looked at him, seeing him for the first time. "Please, I'm fourteen. And I watched Friends when I was, like, eight," she said. "Hmmm. Those your friends in the waiting room?" he asked. "Yeah. Dr. Chase told me they were here but he said they couldn't let them in until eleven o' clock because they're not family," she said bitterly. "Why aren't your parents here?" he asked. "Work. I told them that since it's nothing serious yet, there's no reason for them to leave," she said. "Brave. You sure that's not a symptom?" he asked. She looked at him funny. "Did you read my whole file?" she asked. "No. Just the juicy parts," he said. She rolled her eyes in the typical teenage girl fashion. "I go bungee jumping for a hobby. I can take some ankle pain. If I get worried, I'll call my 'rents. 'Til then, I don't see the point," she said.

"How'd you get a paper cut on your ankle?" he asked. "I was reading a book from the library on the floor. I just rubbed my ankle against it to much and it cut it," she replied. She looked at the clock. "It's eleven. Can my friends come in now?" she asked. "Sure," House said. He paged Cameron, Foreman, and Chase urgently. Then ran in, worried Lizzy was having a problem. "What did you page us for?" Foreman asked, pissed upon seeing that Lizzy was fine. "Go get her friends. Apparently Chase popped the party by saying they weren't allowed in until eleven," House said, while his eyes were glued to the screen. They stared at him dumbly. "Are you going to stand there like you're idiots or are you going to save your ass and get her friends?" he asked after a few moments of silence. Cameron sighed, rolled her eyes, and went to get Lizzy's friends. She came back minutes later, a brown-headed boy, blonde girl, brunette girl, and red headed girl in tow. "Names?" House asked, still watching Friends. "Kyle," said the boy. "Tristy," said the red head. "Callie," said the blonde. "Rachel," sighed the brunette. "Great. Got that Chase? As for me, I'll just refer to you all by 'you with the face'," House said. "Nice to be appreciated," Callie said. "It is, isn't it?" House said.

"What happened after I blacked out?" Lizzy asked. "Well, Ms. Hawkes called 911 and then the ambulance came and rushed you here. You apparently came to soon after you got here," Tristy said. "Okay. Why aren't you guys in school?" she asked. "Duh. We're here to see you. Ms. Hawkes said we could stay here," Kyle said. "Thanks guys," Lizzy said. "Oh, it's not for you. We wanted to get out of class," Callie said. Lizzy grinned mischievously and said, "Stop being sarcastic, Callie. If I weren't in a hospital bed, I'd slap you." House looked at Lizzy's friends as if seeing them for the first time. "Can I talk to you guys outside for a minute?" he asked, getting up. "Sure," Rachel shrugged and they followed House outside the room.

"What do you want?" Tristy asked him. "Anything I should know about Lizzy now? Anything important?" he asked. "Hasn't someone taken a medical history?" Callie asked, furrowing her brow. "Yes. But something she may not think is relevant or she may not tell a doctor," he said. "Nothing we can think of. Lizzy wants to be a doctor when she works, so she'd know that everything is relevant in a case like this. She wouldn't withhold anything," Kyle told him. "Are you sure?" House questioned. The four of them nodded. House shrugged and limped to the cafeteria.

House bought himself a sandwich and a large Coke. He sat down at a table next to Wilson. "Extreme pain in the ankle. No sign of an injury unless you count an uninfected paper cut. Young fourteen year old girl. Friends say she wouldn't withhold any information from a doctor. What do you make of it?" House said. "I'd say it was growing pains," Wilson said. House snorted. "She's fourteen not four. She doesn't get growing pains anymore unless you count menstrual cramps," he said. Wilson shrugged. "Is the pain persisting?" he asked. "Yes," House said. "How extreme?" he asked. "Enough for her to black out. We gave her some meds to lessen the pain, but not enough to kill it. We want to be able to tell if it stops hurting," House replied through a mouthful of sandwich. "Hmm. That is strange. No pulled muscles?" he asked. "I told you. No injuries," House said, frustrated. "Any other symptoms?" Wilson inquired. "Not yet. But that's what I plan to wait for," House said. His pager went off. "Apparently you won't have to wait long," Wilson said as House got up and limped back to the patient's room.

He burst in and said, "What's wrong?" "I feel like I have the flu," Lizzy said. "I'm dizzy, nauseous, feverish. And really thirsty. Can you hand me that huge bottle of water?" she said. Kyle handed her the one liter bottle. She took off the cap and started drinking straight from the bottle. "Looks like we have some more puzzle pieces," House said. He lived for this. To be able to say that he figured out what was wrong when no one else couldn't made him feel like his life was worth something. It proved that he was somehow better than all the others. In his mind, he was at the whiteboard, writing down Lizzy's new symptoms and grilling his team to see if they had any idea worth testing. "Damn! You just drank a whole liter of water!" Foreman said as Lizzy handed the empty bottle to him. "Oh crap," Lizzy said quietly.

He turned to her. She had an embarrassed look on her face. Why would she be embarrassed? "What?" he asked. "Literally. I think I just crapped water on the bed," she said.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Anybody know what's wrong with Lizzy? Anyone? Okay, on with the story now. Once again, House is not mine. But hey. A girl can dream… **

House was in his office with his team, standing at the whiteboard as he wrote extreme pain, extreme thirst, flu like symptoms, and diarrhea on it. "Okay. Brainstorm," he said. "A viral infection. She has flu-like symptoms, including fever. A virus makes sense," Cameron said. "But that still leaves the pain and diarrhea. Put her on a small dose of Interferon," House said. "Are you sure you want to put her on Interferon? That's pretty strong stuff," Chase said. "Do it," House said, his temper flaring. He was pissed because Cameron had thought of a virus, not him. Chase gave him one last angry glare before heading off to give Lizzy Interferon.

Chase entered the room to find Lizzy chatting with her four friends. "Lizzy, could I talk to you for a second?" he asked, looking at her friends. "Whatever you have to tell me, you can tell me in front of them," she said. "Okay. We're putting you on Interferon," he said. "Interferon. That's for cancer or for viruses, isn't it?" she said. "Yes. How did you know that?" he asked. "A family friend had cancer and I watch a lot of medical shows," she said. "Judging by your face, I'm guessing you don't think it's cancer because the symptoms don't really fit. You think it's a virus," she continued. "Yes. Because of your fever and flu-like symptoms," he said. "I'd feel more comfortable if your parents were here when I did this," Chase said nervously. "They're on their way. Callie called after I drank a liter of water and then crapped in my pants. Can you hand me that bottle of water?" she said. Rachel held back. "Girl, if you retain all this water you'll be sorry," she said. "Just give it to me please! I'm so thirsty," Lizzy pleaded. Rachel sighed and handed her the bottle. Lizzy took off the cap and downed half of it in thirty seconds. Kyle pulled the bottle away from her gently. "What's wrong, Liz? Why are you so thirsty?" he asked. "I don't know," she said. "You can give her the water," Chase said while working on the Interferon. Kyle handed her the bottle. When Chase was finished he said that someone would come by soon to check on her.

He found the rest of the team still in House's office. "Did you give it to her?" House asked. Chase nodded. "All the symptoms still seem to be persisting. She drank a nearly a liter of water while I was there," he said. "Is she thirsty or does drinking water give her pleasure?" Foreman wondered aloud. "I wonder if water could give you an orgasm," House murmured. Cameron rolled her eyes at him. "Is she scared?" House asked. Chase frowned. "Doesn't seem to be. If she is, she didn't say anything. Her parents are on their way. And I just remembered: she knew what Interferon was used for," he said. "Don't we all?" House shrugged. "I'm just saying she's a fourteen year old girl. For someone that age to know what Interferon is used for is pretty rare. She damn brilliant if you ask me," Chase added. "That's true. See how much she knows about medical crap. I wonder if little innocent Lizzy got had it bad for someone and considered sprinkling something extra on her cornflakes," House said. No one moved. "You think she may be poisoning herself? Can't we just wait a few hours for the Interferon before you accuse the girl of being suicidal?" Cameron asked. "Fine. Besides, she can't poison herself here. Nurses are just outside and her friends are…," House said. He ran from the room as fast as he could with his limp. He burst into the patient's room and found everything was normal. "Are you poisoning her?" he asked her friends. They looked shocked. "No way. None of us would poison Lizzy," Tristy said defensively. "Are you sure? Everything is relevant if you want your friend to live. Well, if you were poisoning her, I guess you wouldn't want her to live," House said. "We are not poisoning her!" Kyle yelled. "Fine. BUT NO YELLING IN THE HOSPITAL!" House screamed. "But you-" Callie started. "That was not a yell, that was a scream," House corrected before he stalked away. He found Cameron. "I need you to get her friends out of there for at least several hours. That way if they are poisoning her, they can't keep doing so," he said. Cameron started to protest but House walked away before she could say another word.

Cameron felt her beeper go off and headed to Lizzy's room. "Is everything okay?" she asked as she entered. "Well, no but I'm not sure if it's urgent. My ankle feels swollen," Lizzy said. Cameron slowly took off Lizzy's sock on the indicated foot. Lizzy winced, the pain meds were beginning to wear off. "Ugh," Cameron said when she saw Lizzy's foot. It was indeed swollen and it was also purplish with large dark marks. "I'll go tell House," she said. She found House and said, "I am not taking her friends out of her room. Her friends are not poisoning her." House looked at her. "What haven't you told me yet?" he asked. "Her ankle. The one that's hurting is swollen, purple, and has lark dark marks. It's disgusting," she said. "Cool," was all House said, but he headed to his office with his team to add Lizzy's newest symptoms to the white board.

"Differential diagnosis," he said, capping the marker. "It could be an infection," Foreman offered. "We can't rule out allergic reaction," Cameron said. Chase remained silent. "Anything, Chase?" House asked. Chase responded with a shrug. "I don't like how this sounds. Maybe she has the flu and the ankle is a whole different story," he said. "You think she has two unrelated problems at the same time?" Foreman asked. "It's possible," Cameron said. "Has she been sick lately?" House asked. Cameron looked at her file. "She just got over strep throat," Cameron offered. House shook his head. "That doesn't tell us anything. Her body is like a… a small airplane that has too much cargo on board. What does the pilot do before it starts to descend rapidly?" House asked. "Call for help," Foreman answered. "Exactly," House said. Seconds later, an earsplitting female shriek rang through their ears. "That didn't take long," House said as he limped out of his office.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Please review! I don't own House. Just Lizzy and her friends and family. **

House, Foreman, Cameron, and Chase ran into Lizzy's room. She was again clutching her ankle in extreme pain, her face contorted because she was trying so hard not to scream again. Her friends had crowded around her bed, talking softly to her. "It's going to be okay, Lizzy," Tristy said softly, as she held her hand. Callie and Rachel stood at the end of the bed, softly singing Kokomo. Kyle was opposite Tristy, stroking Lizzy's hair and murmuring a prayer. "Who forgot to give her more paid meds?" House asked. He, Foreman, and Chase turned to Cameron. "Don't look at me. I was in here a few minutes ago, but the pain meds should have been administered when Chase came in here to give her Interferon," Cameron said defensively. They then turned to Chase. "What? She didn't complain," he defended. "I'll deal with you later," House said. He put some pain meds in Lizzy's IV. "It will take a few minutes to kick in, but once it does it will dull the pain, but not to the point where you can't feel it," he said. Lizzy nodded as she winced. She looked at the medicine coursing through the tubes, which led into her vein. She felt as though she could feel the medicine coursing through her veins. She leaned back into her bed and closed her eyes. She was extremely aware of the presence of her friends beside her. She fell asleep peacefully.

House and his team watched her fall asleep as her chest moved up and down as she breathed deeply. "Let's go to my office," he said. They left Lizzy and her friends alone. "She scared me right then," Kyle said, shaking slightly. "Yeah. I hope she pulls through this soon," Rachel added. "What would we do without her?" Tristy wondered out loud. "We wouldn't have any one to talk us into risky situations," Callie said, laughing hollowly. "Yeah. I'd miss her a lot," Kyle agreed. Lizzy opened her eyes slowly. "Where'd House go?" she asked. "He left with his team. I think they're back in his office," Callie said. Lizzy once again took in her surroundings. "What's wrong with me?" she asked. Her friends didn't answer. They themselves were wondering the exact same thing. "Where are my mom and dad?" Lizzy asked. As if to answer her question, her parents entered the room. "Hey, sweetie. How are you?" her mom asked moving to stand by her bedside. Kyle hastily removed his hand from Lizzy's hair. "I'm fine," Lizzy said. "No, you're not. You're in the hospital. What're your symptoms?" her dad ask. "Extreme pain in my ankle, extreme thirst, flu-like symptoms, and diarrhea," she answered. Her dad made a face and Lizzy giggled. "We're going to go find a doctor. I think you'll be fine in the capable hands of your friends," her mom said. "We'll watch her," Tristy assured her. Her parents left in search of House.

Meanwhile in House's office, they were brainstorming. "Do you think there's something going on between Kyle and Lizzy?" Cameron asked abruptly. She looked directly at House. "What am I, psychic? Get him in here and we can ask him," he said. Chase went and got Kyle from Lizzy's room. Kyle walked in, feeling a bit daze. Why did House want to speak to him? "Have you and Lizzy been fooling around lately?" he asked bluntly. Kyle seemed confused. "Well, we joke and tease a lot… oh, that fooling around!" he said. House snorted. "No. We haven't even kissed," Kyle said, blushing furiously. House cocked an eyebrow at him. "Are you hiding something?" he asked. "I wish I could kiss her. But she'd freak out on me. And no, I'm not hiding something," Kyle answered, still blushing. After a few moments of silence, Kyle said, "Can I go now?" House nodded and Kyle left the room. "Do you think he's telling the truth?" House asked. "I think so. He doesn't seem to be lying," Foreman said. "Chase, go see if the Interferon is working. Cameron, find out how much she knows about medicine," House said, after thinking for a few minutes. Chase and Cameron left the room.

They entered Lizzy's room to find her and her friends watching General Hospital. "Ugh. Is this idiotic or what?" Kyle asked. Lizzy laughed in agreement. "Hello, Lizzy. We're just here to see how you're doing," Chase said. "Do you feel any better?" he asked. "No. My ankle still hurts like hell and I feel worse than I've ever felt before," she answered. Cameron asked her a series of questions about medicine. Lizzy answered all of them surprisingly correctly. "How do you know all that?" Cameron asked. "My mom's a doctor and I get bored during the summer," she answered. "You don't just watch television?" Cameron asked. "Well, I do. But I watch a lot of medical shows. I thought I told Chase that," Lizzy told her. "You did. House just wanted to… explore it further," Cameron told her. "He thinks I'm infecting myself with something on purpose?" she asked. Cameron nodded grimly. "Well you can tell him I'm not. I would never even consider suicide," she said firmly. Cameron and Chase left, with the feeling that House would be intrigued and disappointed with what they had to report.

Lizzy's parent's found House. "Hi, are you Dr. House?" her mother asked. "Well, it depends. If you're an angry former clinic patient, that's Dr. House," House said, pointing at Foreman. Her dad smiled. "We're not. Our daughter Lizzy is your patient," he said. "Oh. Well, I'm Dr. House," House told him. "What's wrong with her?" her mom asked. House shrugged. "We're working on it," he said. "So you don't know?" she said. "Look. I sent two of my doctors to check on her. They should be coming back any minute," he said. Chase and Cameron entered the room as if on cue. "The Interferon's not working. It's not a viral infection," Chase said. "She knows a hell of a lot about medicine but she got it from her mom and TV. And she vehemently denied ever thinking of suicide. I don't think she's lying," Cameron said. Lizzy's parents looked at House. "Oops," he said.

Their beepers went off and they rushed into the room. "Her blood pressure dropped!" Rachel told them hysterically. They looked at the screen. Her blood pressure had dropped critically. "She's going into toxic shock!"


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hope you like it! Sorry this is short, but it's the last chapter and there wasn't much more to do with it. Look out for the sequel I'm going to start working on: The Intern. For the final time: I do not own House.**

Half an hour later, they had stabilized Lizzy, but she was barely conscious. "I can't help but think we're missing something," House said. He was back in his office with Chase, Cameron, and Foreman. The dark marks on Lizzy's foot had become pus-filled blisters. "Is there anything we haven't thought of?" House said in response to his team's blank looks. They glanced at each other. "Well… we never thought of a bacterial infection," Chase said. "But which one?" House asked, using his cane to knock over the whiteboard which fell with a clatter. Cameron finally spoke up. "There is one possibility. But it's rare," she said.

Twenty minutes later, Cameron was putting intravenous immunoglobulin in Lizzy's IV while explaining their diagnosis to the barely conscious Lizzy and her friends and family. "You have necrotizing fasciitis. The bacteria entered your body from the paper cut on your ankle. It progressed more rapidly in your case because your immune system was still recovering and destroying the remnants of the strep bacteria. It decided that destroying the strep was more important until the necrotizing fasciitis was too strong for your weakened immune system to handle. The intravenous immunoglobulin will help treat that. We'll give you medicines to raise your blood pressure, too. We'll also remove some of the infected tissue and use skin grafting to make it look as close as possible to normal. The last part of your treatment will be the use of a hyperbaric chamber because of a mixed bacterial infection," Cameron said. Lizzy nodded slightly. "Most likely you'll have slight scarring near your ankle, but not much more," Cameron said, smiling. Lizzy managed a faint smile.

"How long will her treatment last?" Kyle asked. "Some time between two weeks and a month," Cameron replied. "After that, about a week of rest and then you can return to school," she informed all in the room. Lizzy brightened. She turned to her family and friends. "You promise to visit me?" she asked. She was asking her friends more than her parents, because she knew her parents would be there every day anyway. "Of course. We wouldn't leave you, Liz. I'll visit everyday," Kyle told her. Tristy, Rachel, and Callie nodded in agreement. Lizzy smiled. "And bring my work, too, okay?" she said. "Sure. I'll be sure to give you some extra, too," Callie said with a twinkle in her eyes.

House stood outside Lizzy's room, watching her and her friends and family enjoying themselves through the glass walls. He had saved another life. But would it matter? No. People who knew him would still think of him as a manipulative bastard, as Foreman so quaintly put it. It may matter to Lizzy and her family, but not to anyone else that he would see again. He walked off. Little did he know. Little did he know.

About a month later, Lizzy was being wheeled out of the hospital in a wheelchair. Kyle was pushing it, and Lizzy had a twinkled in her eyes. She was excited to get out of the hospital. Her parents and other friends trailed behind them. She saw House, standing off to the side juggling a ball, water bottle, and a kaleidoscope. "Kyle, I got it for now," she said. He stepped back to wait for the others. She wheeled herself over to House with some difficulty and stopped about a foot away from him. "What?" he asked, while still juggling. "I just wanted to thank you. You don't strike me as the type of person who is usually thanked, but… I figured I'd say it to the man who saved my life, anyway," she said. "Stay away from those library books though," he said. She smiled. She wheeled herself back over to Kyle. He pushed her out of the hospital, hoping that it would be the last time she'd have to go there. How very wrong he was.


End file.
